Backyard Bliss: The 2015 Garden Trends Report

The 2015 Garden Trends Report reveals America’s fastest-growing consumer groups plus the emerging interests that will be influencing what your customers want in outdoor living spaces.

The Garden Media Group has released its top consumer trends predicted to shape the garden and outdoor living industry and resonate with people of all ages. For 2015, a renewed interest in gardening goes hand-in-hand with an increased focus on healthy lifestyles. For some time now, consumers have treated their outdoor and indoor spaces as extensions of themselves and are now making conscious decisions to use plants and garden products as “tools” to increase their overall well-being, lead a sustainable lifestyle, and make a positive impact on their communities and the planet.

The goal of the 2015 Garden Trends Report is to help brands expand opportunities, foster innovation to create new programs and products, and open the door to engage the consumers of tomorrow.

Garden-tainment

The party is moving outside! With the U.S. demand for outdoor plants expected to grow to $7 billion in 2015, “garden-tainment” is quickly becoming a way to personalize outdoor spaces.

U.S. demand for outdoor products is expected to increase 4% in 2015 to almost $7 billion.

Plants will play a key role — whether consumers are potting up containers and terrariums, cooking fresh food from their gardens, or redecorating their patios. Wanting to instantly “set the space” before a party is a key reason people buy plants; they’re looking for easy, quick solutions they can personalize.

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), homes are predicted to shrink in size by 10% in 2015. With smaller homes, people are taking to the outdoors for dining, cooking, and entertaining. In fact, the 2014 Casual Living & Apartment Therapy Outdoor Decorating Survey notes that 62% of Millennials, 46% of Gen Xers, and 24% of Baby Boomers are spending more time outdoors. According to the survey, 85% of Millennials rated outdoor rooms as “Very Important” or “Important” compared to 83% of Gen Xers and 74% of Baby Boomers.

The New Consumers

Who are they? According to statistics, Hispanics are the largest minority in the U.S. as well as the fastest-growing segment. Millennials are bigger than Baby Boomers, comprising an estimated 25% of the U.S. population. Other interesting stats: Millennials in the U.K. spend $1,500 annually on gardening, almost 4X the average in the U.S.; and young men in the U.S. spend $100 more than average on garden plants and products.

Pew Research forecasts that by 2050, the U.S. will be 47% white, 29% Hispanic, 13% Black, and 9% Asian.

Smoke Your Garden

With almost half of the U.S. states passing laws to legalize marijuana, the amount of people who will begin growing their own will also increase. Garden centers that capitalize on these new laws by carrying products that help people cultivate these plants can become leaders in the industry.

Bite-Size Decadence

Whether in a small space garden or on an apartment balcony, compact plants will pack a lot of punch in 2015 with rich colors and textures as major focal points. As people continue to see a decrease in their free time and living spaces, they will concentrate on making a big impact with bold plants. Whether it’s a burst of color from one plant or a mix of show-stopping plants, making a luscious statement in a small space packs a big punch in 2015.

This year, trending color palettes – ranging from vintage and muted rustic to teal and pink – show off personality in flowers, plants, and outdoor products. Pops of exploding color like pink and teal give a fun, fresh, and flirty feel. Popular shades of pink include such varieties as Bubblegum, Pink Dust, Mauve, Blush, and Fuchsia. Teal and turquoise act as cooler complements to pink. Inversely, rustic, natural color palettes create a vintage, homey feel. Light pastels and more worn-down hues like faded denim evoke feelings of comfort and give a reimagined contemporary look.

Rebel ’Hoods

Neighborhood residents are rebelling against – and campaigning for – the reversal of ordinances that prohibit them from expressing themselves and living the way they want. These rebels are transforming their area into “agri-hoods” complete with urban chickens, beekeepers, and lawn-less landscapes.

The Community Associations Institute estimates about 63.4 million U.S. residents lived in 323,600 Homeowner Association communities as of 2012. Individuals have started rebelling and reversing ordinances set upon them by Homeowner Associations or local government. They are reclaiming their land and taking pride in being able to sustain their families. From growing and cultivating their own food and raising backyard goats to the comeback of the clothesline, people are paving their own way and sharing their goods.

Well-Being From the Outside In

For more and more consumers, health is a top priority. People aren’t just gardening for beauty, they are gardening to nourish their communities, the environment, and their own well-being. Most importantly, they want brands to help them do it.

Products that are environmentally friendly and safe for pets and children reign supreme. Blueberry plants, like the BrazelBerries® Collection of edible berries, are good for health/wellness and rank high on consumers’ eco-scale. Trees, flowers, plants, birds, and bees all increase overall health and wellness for ourselves, society, and the planet. Plants are clean air filters/oxygen machines, and can be considered to be wellness prescriptions. Meanwhile trees absorb 1/5 of carbon emissions, reduce electricity consumption, and increase mental health.

Bed Head

Purposefully unstyled outdoor spaces are the result of intentionally working within the natural landscape. This casual landscape style expresses an effortless personality with an “anything goes” attitude.

Create “bed head” meadows and natural habitats using native plants to increase diversity, balance, and ecosystems. Native plants require less water and fertilizer because they are well-adapted to the local climate.

Portable Gardening

Convenience and simplicity resonate with consumers. And portable gardening allows the always-in-motion generation to take gardening wherever they go. The rise of “NOwners” — those who prize freedom over homeownership — is fueling modular flexibility and encouraging unique design and personalization. Adaptable and flexible planters with wheels, handles, or other movable parts or lightweight durable products (such as green concrete planters) fit their needs.

[…] having a great party atmosphere, especially among those sought-after millennial consumers. In fact, EnglightenmentMag.com reports that 85 percent of millennials rated outdoor rooms as very important when it comes to the […]